Under the 1862 Homestead Act, an eligible settler could generally claim 160 acres of public land.
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862. It allowed adults, including women and immigrants who intended to become citizens, to claim surveyed federal land. A claimant had to live on the parcel, improve it, and cultivate it for five years before receiving legal title, generally without paying the normal purchase price.
The law encouraged migration into western territories and helped convert federal land into farms and towns. It also supported the Union’s wartime vision of independent small farmers, although the policy’s benefits were uneven and many settlers faced drought, isolation, poor soil, and financial hardship.
The act’s history also includes dispossession. Much of the land opened to homesteading had been taken from Native nations through treaties, coercion, or military force. The original Homestead Act remained in effect until 1976, with an Alaska extension lasting another decade.